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Major NHS investment to benefit dementia sufferers

The physical environments which the NHS utilises to care for people with dementia are to be improved under a new initiative.

The next phase of the King's Fund's Enhancing the Healing Environment scheme, which is funded by the Department of Health, will contribute to the surroundings and staffing in many key locations across the country.

For example, Macclesfield District General Hospital will receive an indoor garden, with a memory wall also being erected at Newholme Hospital in Derbyshire.

Chief executive of the King's Fund Niall Dickson stated that dementia is one of the "most distressing" conditions which people can suffer or be faced with, noting that physical environments are one of the few things which can anchor people to more positive emotions.

He continued: "We believe that these projects will make a difference to the quality of the environment in which people are cared for.

"They will also empower staff to make long-lasting improvements to hospitals throughout the country."

Formed in 1897, the King's Fund was founded by the then Prince of Wales in order to collect funds for distribution around hospitals throughout the nation.